Skaneateles Party to have three candidates on November ballot

Town supervisor and two town board seats up for election in Skaneateles will be contested on Nov. 5.

The Skaneateles Party, a local party independent of any national affiliation, announced today that it has filed the petitions with Onondaga County Board of Elections to have three candidates appear on the ballot in November.

Its candidates will be Mary Sennett for town supervisor and Connie Brace and Claire Howard for town councilor.

Earlier this year the town Republican committee announced its candidates for office: Jim Greenfield for supervisor and Rick Keyes and Steve McGlynn for councilor.

Two-term supervisor, and Republican, Terri Roney has chosen not to run for re-election, so Greenfield was nominated to run. He is a current member of the town board elected in 2011 to a term through the end of 2015.

Keyes and McGlynn are also current board members who will seek re-election.

In order to qualify for the November ballot, the Skaneateles Party had to collect more than 400 signatures of residents, according to a press release from the party.

The Skaneateles Party was first founded in 1989 when it provided candidates for town office just that year. Two of its candidates, Ed Bettis and David Robinson were elected to the town board and were on the board in 1996 when a joint village and town comprehensive plan was first adopted.

Sennett is a currently a trustee on the Skaneateles village board. She was elected to a four-year term in 2011. She is also a former vice-chair of the town zoning board of appeals.

Brace is an architect and Associate Partner at QPK Design in Syracuse, the firm hired by the village to design the renovations done to 26 Fennell St., the new village hall.

Howard is a nurse practitioner, general manager of the Skaneateles Festival for 10 years and member of the town’s hydrofracking committee in 2011. She is also the daughter of original party member Robinson, who has since passed away.

The party states their areas of concern as including: “Proposed out-of-scale development, concern for the lake’s water quality, residential sprawl without growth, less-than-best communication with the village government and fiscal responsibility.”

The Skaneateles Party candidates have also been endorsed by the town Democratic committee, meaning that the Nov. 5 ballot will have four options for the town board seats and two options for supervisor.

The Democratic committee held a caucus to pick candidates on Wednesday, Aug. 21, at which they endorsed the selections of the Skaneateles Party.

The Republicans committee has also nominated Janet Aaron for re-election as clerk, Lori Milne for re-election as tax collector and Allan Wellington for highway superintendent. Current highway superintendent Jim Card will be retiring at the end of his current term. They all currently stand to run uncontested.

Town supervisor in Skaneateles is a two-year term, while town councilor, clerk, highway superintendent and tax collector and clerk are all four-year terms.

Joe Genco is the editor of the Skaneateles Press. He can be reached at editor@skaneatelespress.com.